Cover not available
Part of
Ethical Issues in Applied Linguistics Scholarship
Edited by Peter I. De Costa, Amr Rabie-Ahmed and Carlo Cinaglia
[Research Methods in Applied Linguistics 7] 2024
► pp. 156–172

Chapter 9
Ethics in heritage language education

Negotiating ethical research practices with heritage speakers and their communities

| Michigan State University,
In this chapter, I explore ethical considerations for conducting Applied Linguistics research on heritage speakers and offer recommendations for building understanding and commitment to ethically-informed practices when working with heritage communities. First, I discuss the ethical questions that arise in each stage of research development, keeping in mind the great diversity within and across heritage communities and the particular importance of ethical awareness that must go beyond traditional principles of research ethics. These include stages relating to definitions and terminology, research objectives, participant recruitment and inclusion criteria, data collection, and dissemination of results. Next, I provide specific examples of the ethical challenges I have faced in my own work, particularly relating to cultural, linguistic, and sociopolitical factors, when weighing the risks and benefits of various research decisions, and I expand on the steps taken to resolve each issue. I close the chapter with a reflection on the core ethical tensions that may arise for in-group and out-group researchers when working with heritage participants and make suggestions for scholars who intend to adopt practices that are ethically sound and appropriate for working with heritage speakers and their communities.
Article outline
  • Introduction
  • Considering ethical issues during HLE research
    • Pre-study considerations to ensure ethical outcomes
    • Ethical considerations during study design and procedures
    • Post-study considerations in HLE research
  • Examples of personal ethical challenges
  • Reflection on core tensions and final suggestions
  • Author queries
  • References
This content is being prepared for publication; it may be subject to changes.
References (55)
References
Alfaraz, G. G. (2018). Framing the diaspora and the homeland: Language ideologies in the Cuban diaspora. International Journal of the Sociology of Language, 2018(254), 49–69. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
American Association for Applied Linguistics. (2017). AAAL ethics guidelines. Retrieved on 25 June 2024 from [URL]
Battiste, M. (2008). Research ethics for protecting indigenous knowledge and heritage: Institutional and researcher responsibilities. In N. K. Denzin, Y. S. Lincoln, & L. T. Smith (Eds.), Handbook of critical and indigenous methodologies (pp. 497–510). Sage. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Borowczyk, M. (2020). Credentialing heritage: The role of community heritage language schools in implementing the seal of biliteracy. Foreign Language Annals, 53(1), 28–47. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Bowden, H. W. (2016). Assessing second-language oral proficiency for research: The Spanish elicited imitation task. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 38(4), 647–675. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Brown, C. L. (2009). Heritage language and ethnic identity: A case study of Korean-American college students. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 11(1). DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Costa, P. I. (2014). Making ethical decisions in an ethnographic study. TESOL Quarterly, 48(2), 413–422. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Costa, P. I., Lee, J., Rawal, H., & Li, W. (2019). Ethics in applied linguistics research. In J. McKinley & H. Rose (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of research methods in applied linguistics (pp. 122–130). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
De Costa, P. I., Sterling, S., Lee, J., Li, W., & Rawal, H. (2021). Research tasks on ethics in applied linguistics. Language Teaching, 54(1), 58–70. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Driver, M. (2021). Emotion-laden texts and words: The influence of emotion on vocabulary learning for heritage and foreign language learners. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 44(4), 1071–1094. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2022). Multilingual Repository in Applied Linguistics (MuRAL) [Database]. Available at [URL]
Fishman, J. (2001). 300-plus years of heritage language education in the United States. In J. K. Peyton, D. Ranard, & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage languages in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 81–98). Delta Systems.Google Scholar
Flores, N., & Rosa, J. (2015). Undoing appropriateness: Raciolinguistic ideologies and languagediversity in education. Harvard Educational Review, 85(2), 149–171. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hailes, H. P., Ceccolini, C. J., Gutowski, E., & Liang, B. (2021). Ethical guidelines for social justice in psychology. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 52(1), 1–11. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Henrich, J., Heine, S. J., & Norenzayan, A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2–3), 61–83. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Holmes, P., Fay, R., Andrews, J., & Attia, M. (2013). Researching multilingually: New theoretical and methodological directions. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 23(3), 285–299. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Keyzer, J. F., Melnikow, J., Kuppermann, M., Birch, S., Kuenneth, C., Nuovo, J., Azari, R., Oto-Kent, D., & Rooney, M. (2005). Recruitment strategies for minority participation: Challenges and cost lessons from the POWER interview. Ethnicity & Disease, 15(3), 395–406.Google Scholar
Kim, Y. K. (2020). Third space, new ethnic identities, and possible selves in the imagined communities: A case of Korean heritage language speakers. Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 1–17. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kondo-Brown, K. (2003). Heritage language instruction for post-secondary students from immigrant backgrounds. Heritage Language Journal, 1(1), 1–25. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Kubanyiova, M. (2008). Rethinking research ethics in contemporary applied linguistics: The tension between macroethical and microethical perspectives in situated research. The Modern Language Journal, 92(4), 503–518. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leeman, J. (2012). Investigating language ideologies in Spanish as a heritage language. In S. Beaudrie & M. Fairclough (Eds.), Spanish as a heritage language in the United States: The state of the field (pp. 43–59). Georgetown University Press.Google Scholar
(2015). Heritage language education and identity in the United States. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 35, 100–119. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leeman, J., & Driver, M. (2021). Spanish heritage speaker identity and study abroad. In R. Pozzi, C. Escalante, & T. Quan (Eds.), Heritage speakers of Spanish in study abroad (pp. 141–159). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Leeman, J., Rabin, L., & Román–Mendoza, E. (2011). Identity and activism in heritage language education. The Modern Language Journal, 95(4), 481–495. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
López, B. G., Lezama, E., & Heredia Jr., D. (2019). Language brokering experience affects feelings toward bilingualism, language knowledge, use, and practices: A qualitative approach. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 41(4), 481–503. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Loza, S. (2017). Transgressing standard language ideologies in the Spanish heritage language (SHL) classroom. Chiricù Journal: Latina/o Literature, Art, and Culture, 1(2), 56–77. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Luchkina, T., Ionin, T., Lysenko, N., Stoops, A., & Suvorkina, N. (2021). Evaluating the Russian language proficiency of bilingual and second language learners of Russian. Languages, 6(2), 83. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Marsden, E., Alferink, I., Andringa, S., Bolibaugh, C., Collins, L., Jackson, C., Kasprowicz, R., O’Reilly, D., & Plonsky, L. (2018). Open Accessible Summaries in Language Studies (OASIS) [Database]. Available at [URL]
Marsden, E., Mackey, A., & Plonsky, L. (2016). The IRIS Repository: Advancing research practice and methodology. In A. Mackey & E. Marsden (Eds.), Advancing methodology and practice: The IRIS Repository of Instruments for Research into Second Languages (pp. 1–21). Routledge.Google Scholar
Marulanda, N., & Rojas, M. D. (2019). Ethics in higher education institutions to build trusting relationships with stakeholders. Información Tecnológica, 30(3), 269–276. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
May, S. (Ed.). (2013). The multilingual turn: Implications for SLA, TESOL, and bilingual education. Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Menard-Warwick, J., Kehoe, S., & Palmer, D. (2021). 8 The diverse experiences of heritage speakers at a Guatemalan language school. In R. Pozzi, C. Escalante, & T. Quan (Eds.), Heritage speakers of Spanish in study abroad (pp. 160–178). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ortega, L. (2005). Methodology, epistemology, and ethics in instructed SLA research: An introduction. The Modern Language Journal, 89(3), 317–327. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2013). SLA for the 21st century: Disciplinary progress, transdisciplinary relevance, and the bi/multilingual turn. Language learning, 63, 1–24. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2020). The study of heritage language development from a bilingualism and social justice perspective. Language Learning, 70, 15–53. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Ortega, L., Iwashita, N., Norris, J. M., & Rabie, S. (2002). An investigation of elicited imitationtasks in crosslinguistic SLA research. Paper presented at the Second Language Research Forum, Toronto.
Palmer, J. L., Newman, L. A., Davidson, S., & Cawthon, S. W. (2020). Life after college. American Annals of the Deaf, 165(4), 401–417. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Phung, H., Choe, A., Diez-Ortega, M., Eguchi, M., Holden, D., Mendoza, A., & Nguyen, T. The multiʻōlelo initiative for language research communication. Second Language Studies, 38(1), 5–17.
Pichler, D. C., Lillo-Martin, D., & Palmer, J. L. (2018). A short introduction to heritage signers. Sign Language Studies, 18(3), 309–327. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Plonsky, L. (Ed.). (forthcoming). Open science in applied linguistics. Applied Linguistics Press.
Quan, T. (2021). Study abroad as a transformative translanguaging space for heritage speakers of Spanish. In W. Diao & E. Trentman (Eds.), Language learning in study abroad: The multilingual turn (pp. 170–189). De Gruyter. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Shin, S. J. (2010). “What about me? I’m not like Chinese but I’m not like American”: Heritage-language learning and identity of mixed-heritage adults. Journal of Language, Identity, and Education, 9(3), 203–219. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Solon, M., Park, H. I., Dehghan-Chaleshtori, M., Carver, C., & Long, A. Y. (2022). Exploring an elicited imitation task as a measure of heritage language proficiency. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 44(4), 1095–1123. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Solon, M., Park, H. I., Henderson, C., & Dehghan-Chaleshtori, M. (2019). Revisiting the Spanish elicited imitation task: A tool for assessing advanced language learners? Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 41(5), 1027–1053. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Son, Y. A. (2017). Toward useful assessment and evaluation of heritage language learning. Foreign Language Annals, 50(2), 367–386. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(2020). Testing heritage language learners. In P. Winke & T. Brunfaut (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and language testing (pp. 422–431). Routledge. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Spilioti, T., & Tagg, C. (2017). The ethics of online research methods in applied linguistics: Challenges, opportunities, and directions in ethical decision-making. Applied Linguistics Review, 8(2–3), 163–167. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Sterling, S., & Gass, S. (2017). Exploring the boundaries of research ethics: Perceptions of ethics and ethical behaviors in applied linguistics research. System, 70, 50–62. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Taylor-Leech, K., & Tualaulelei, E. (2021). Knowing who you are: Heritage language, identity and safe space in a bilingual kindergarten. TESOL in Context, 30(1), 63–83. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
TESOL International Association. (2014). Research agenda. Retrieved on 25 June 2024 from [URL]
Torres, J., Pascual, D., & Beusterien, J. (2018). What’s next? Heritage language learners shape new paths in Spanish teaching. Hispania, 100(5), 271–276. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Valdés, G. (2001). Heritage language students: Profiles and possibilities. In J. K. Peyton, D. Ranard, & S. McGinnis (Eds.), Heritage languages in America: Preserving a national resource (pp. 37–77). Delta Systems.Google Scholar
Weideman, A. (2006). Transparency and accountability in applied linguistics. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 24(1), 71–86. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Wyatt, W. (2016). The ethics of trigger warnings. Teaching Ethics, 16, 17–35. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Yuan, M., Sude, Wang T., Zhang, W., Chen, N., Simpson, A., & Dervin, F. (2020). Chinese Minzu education in higher education: An inspiration for ‘Western’ diversity education? British Journal of Educational Studies, 68(4), 461–486. DOI logoGoogle Scholar